Celebrations of Love
by Delicate as China
Summary: When Rin learns of a modern tradition, she is determined to uphold it. Anniversaries sound like fun!
1. Paper

"In my time, we celebrate anniversaries of things like marriage," said Kagome as she stirred the radish stew she was preparing. A sly smile slid onto her face as her grey eyes slid up to meet Rin's. "And you know what's coming up Rin? The first anniversary of your marriage to Sesshōmaru."

Rin's cheeks turned a dusty shade of red as she looked down to the sleeve of her yukata. Even though Rin had been married to Sesshōmaru for nearly a year now, she was still embarrassed when it was brought up. As much as she loved Sesshōmaru, she had already been engaged when he swept her off her feet and asked for her to give her hand to him instead. Kohaku still held a grudge.

After moments passed of Rin saying nothing, eyes focused on the frayed edge of her yukata, Kagome rolled her eyes and continued.

"I think you should celebrate. Me and Inuyasha do, and I roped Miroku and Sango into it as well. It's really fun, and normally leads to lots and lots of hot sex which lead to children."

Rin's head shot up, cheeks flaming harder than ever. Wild eyed and completely embarrassed, Rin managed to look like a fish out of water as she tried to find some reply to Kagome. All Rin could think of though was the word indecent being screamed over and over in her mind. That, and the fact Kagome was looking smug and smirking.

"In my time, we celebrate giving gifts. There's this whole elaborate scheme with for each year you give them something made of a certain material. The first year is paper. I know I gave Inuyasha written permission to name our first child whatever name he wanted, and in return he actually asked Miroku to teach him how to write. Sango gave Miroku some inappropriate artwork, and Miroku wrote Sango a poem about his undying love for her."

"Do I have to?" Rin meekly said, knowing that the older shrine maiden always got what she wanted if she was determined. The question didn't really have to be answered; of course Rin would be roped into making something for Sesshōmaru.

Sometimes Rin wished that Sesshōmaru wouldn't leave her in the village when he needed to patrol his lands.

. . . . .

Before Sesshōmaru stood his half-brother. The half-demon known as Inuyasha shared the same father with Sesshōmaru, though of course not the same mother. Sesshōmaru was full demon. Many years ago, he would've made a comment about how superior he was, and how inferior Inuyasha was because of his mixed blood, but Sesshōmaru no longer cared now that he was married to a human. It would be hypocritical, and Sesshōmaru did not want to be labeled as such.

Still, he wasn't exactly friends with his half-brother, so the visit was not really a positive surprise. More like a negative one.

"Kagome made me come," was the first gruff sentence from the half-demon.

Sesshōmaru was not surprised; the half-demon's wife seemed intent on making the two brothers act more brotherly. Sesshōmaru found the shrine maiden quite annoying, but Rin seemed to like her and Inuyasha would be quite cross with his full-demon brother if Sesshōmaru killed or seriously maimed Kagome.

"Such a whipped little puppy. Do you beg for scraps at dinner time as well?" What? Sesshōmaru felt like it had to be said.

"Asshole," the half-demon muttered under his breath, glaring at his brother and crossing his arms over his chest. "She's my wife. I kind of _have _to do what she asks if I want to get laid. You should know how that feels, you have a wife too.

"Anyhow, Kagome just wanted me to come and say that she's indoctrinating Rin into yet another one of her modern practices. Not her words exactly, but I am supposed to explain what it is because you are supposed to participate as well." The half-demon smirked as a slight frown marred Sesshōmaru's usually emotionless face. "Something called an '_ann-i-ver-ser-ry_'. It's supposed to a celebration of your marriage or something like that. You're supposed to get Rin a gift made of paper is the basic gist. Now, I'm going home because I hate you and Kagome is making dinner."

With that the half-demon was off and Sesshōmaru was left slightly confused, and slightly discontented.

. . . . .

"Okay," Rin said, a big smile on her face, the sleeves of her yukata pulled back, an apron tied around her waist, and a pair of modern scissors in hand. Kagome sat across from her in the hut that once belonged to the late shrine maiden Kaede, a smile on her face and another pair of scissors in her hand. Piles of paper rested in stacks around the two women, and both women looked completely determined. "One-thousand paper cranes here we come!"

The project started off well, paper cranes being folded nicely and put into a basket. They got to about three hundred before their stomach started growling. They had rice and fish for lunch, then continued. At about five-hundred paper cranes, Rin needed to pee so she went. At six-hundred and fifty, Sango entered and started helping. Fifty later, Sango left. At eight-hundred, Kagome needed to pee. At nine-hundred, both woman started complaining about the hand cramps that started forming around two-hundred. At nine-fifty, Kagome started complaining about Inuyasha. Finally, at one-thousand, both woman collapsed backwards and took a nap until dinner.

. . . . .

He had no idea was to get Rin. Honestly, he didn't know why he was doing this. He'd returned to the sky castle that served as the Western fortress and had barricaded himself inside his study. Surrounded by paper, his still had no idea what would be special out of something so simple. He could already guess that Rin was doing something out of origami; Rin and his mother loved to make little origami dogs and leave them all over the castle to annoy and surprise him.

He was completely and utterly stumped. Modern traditions had no place in the feudal era, and this was proving it to him more and more by the moments ticking by.

Finally, his mother opened the door and entered, knowing that something was stumping her son and that maybe she could help. She brought his favorite tea with her, and some rice and miso soup because he hadn't any food in three days.

"Do you have any gift ideas," he said between bites of rice. His mother chuckled, finding it humorous that Sesshōmaru could devise war tactics in his sleep, but coming up with ideas for a gift (probably for his wife, should she add) was hard for him.

"Anything particular about this gift?"

"It has to be made of paper."

This made his mother full out laugh, even wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her kimono. Sesshōmaru glared at her, reaching for the miso soup.

"Paper flowers. It's origami, something she enjoys. She also enjoys flowers. These will be perfect."

Sesshōmaru sighed, levelling his mother with another glare. She quirked an eyebrow at him, wondering what could be so wrong with her idea, and wondering if he was just glaring at her because the idea came to her off the top of her head.

"I don't know origami."

"I'll show you," she said in breathy voice, overplaying the slight thought in her head that he was being ridiculous.

That day was spent teaching Sesshōmaru how to fold paper into a flower. At the end of it all, Sesshōmaru walked away with a slight tinge of red to his cheeks and with a brewing storm of hatred for his mother, and his mother walked away laughing, humored by the situation. Rin was good for her son, and that was that.

. . . . .

Today was the day: the first anniversary of their marriage. Rin was so excited. She hadn't been this excited since Sesshōmaru swept her off her feet and asked her to be his wife. She had been told the Inuyasha had tried to wrangle Sesshōmaru into participating, but whether or not it worked was another question. She hoped it had because her hands were still sore from folding all those paper cranes. She hoped he'd like them though, she made them with as much love as she could.

Sesshōmaru was stopping by the village to take her home, and that was when she was going to give him all the cranes. Knowing her lord husband, he'd probably raise an eyebrow, thank her, and then throw her over her shoulder and take off towards the sky castle. Still, she was super excited.

And then she could see him. The sleeves of his haori fluttered in the air as he gracefully dropped down onto the ground. The soft impact only sent up a small cloud of dirt, and showed no signs of affecting him. Rin's smile grew.

"Rin," he greeted, nodding his head. Even though he didn't say it, nor did he smile, she knew he was happy to see her. He just wasn't the expressive type, and she knew that, accepted, expected it, and love it with all her heart. She'd never try to change; she loved him just the way he was.

"Here, these are for you," she thrust the basket of paper cranes towards him, and he took them without hesitation. He looked a little surprised by how many there were, by he didn't look mad or disappointed which brightened her mood further.

"Thank you Rin," he said, nodding again before grabbing her around the waist. She latched on quickly as he took off.

She was happy. He liked her gift. Even if he didn't have one for her, he at least didn't think she was stupid or foolish for showing her love in the manner that Kagome had advised her to. And with that thought, she nestled her head into Sesshōmaru's fluff and closed her eyes, content washing over her.

. . . . .

Sesshōmaru laid his sleeping wife down on the bed. He had work to attend to, so as much as he silently wanted to lay beside her and hold her, he couldn't. Instead, he set down the basket of cranes on the chest of drawers and grabbed the paper flowers he had made for her. Setting them beside her on the futon, he left the room and headed towards his study.

. . . . .

When Rin awoke, the room was dark but there was no Sesshōmaru anywhere in sight. She assumed he was still working in his study and let a small smile grace her lips. Same old predictable Sesshōmaru. Working himself until he was falling asleep at his desk. Looking over to the side of the futon that Sesshōmaru normally slept on, there was pile of orange things she couldn't make out in the darkness. Furrowing her brows, she got up and lit a candle before looking at whatever the orange little things.

Much to her surprise, they were little paper flowers. Her smile grew and she giggled. Sesshōmaru had made her a gift too.

How sweet.


	2. Cotton

Rin had been acting strange lately; smiling more than usual whenever he looked at her, but avoiding him as much as possible. Being married to a human had already been a confusing thing for him, but this, this was just beyond the demon lord. She was flighty, hesitant, and hiding something. What, he didn't know and that left him more confused than ever.

He didn't like it, to be frank. He wouldn't have married Rin if he didn't love her and she didn't love him back. He wouldn't have married her if he didn't want them to be open with each, without secrets between them. But here he was, sitting in his study as her pondered the actions of the woman he loved, and the woman hiding something from him.

There were of course ideas he had. They weren't nice ideas, he didn't like a single one of them. One idea was the she no longer loved him but didn't have the guts to break things off. Another was the she'd fallen for someone else, but maintained feelings for Sesshōmaru. That one just sounded like hell to him. Another was that she was sick and dying. Perhaps someone was threatening; threatening to hurt or even kill her if she continued things with him. It was honestly scaring him, all the possibilities.

They still slept in the same bed, though she slept as far to her side as she could. Whenever he reached out for her, to cuddle or perhaps even do more with she said she wasn't in the mood or that she was too tired or that she needed to pee. He respected her wishes but couldn't help but feel a little miffed. They didn't see each other all day, and then when they were finally together, and alone, she treated him like an overbearing stranger.

This sudden change in attitude was awkward, uncomfortable, confusing, and most of all, terrifying. And that was coming from Sesshōmaru.

Three knocks on the shoji to his study sounded, dragging him from the tormenting thoughts of his wife turned stranger. His mother entered the study, a grim look on her face.

His mother knew too; all that was going on between him and Rin. She talked to both parties, tried to play mediator on multiple occasions, and even went as far as trying to set them up together. She failed every time, and not because of Sesshōmaru's aloofness but because of the sudden stand-offish behavior of Rin.

"I don't get it," she whined, leaning against his desk. Before he could even ask what she didn't get, his mother continued. "I remember just three months ago when me and Rin were having tea that she told me she would never stop loving you. She said she valued every moment the two of you spent together. She said that you were a god in bed, and looked forward to every evening where she could sleep in your warm embrace. She said all of this, descriptors and all. It just boggles me."

His mother looked at him, looking for an answer. He had none though, and a shrug of his shoulders was the only answer his mother got from him.

"See, even you don't know. You should know, it's your problem and she's your wife but she won't even talk to you." His mother paused and he waited patiently for her to continue. "Maybe you stopped being good in bed?"

Sesshōmaru could not hold back a snort of humor.

"Hm…" grunted his mother as she played with a lock of her white hair. "Maybe you accidently hurt her at some point and she realized just how different the two of you are? Isn't that how every book, play, and poem portrays this problem as?"

He didn't dignify that with a response.

His mother opened her mouth again to spew even more inane ideas, but couldn't before three lights taps were rasped on his shoji. Frowning, Sesshōmaru called the person in.

In walked the subject of his troubles; his wife Rin. Her eyes were focused on the floor as she entered and knelt before the two dog demons. His mother watched Rin with excitement, probably thinking that this would mean that Rin was ready to make up with Sesshōmaru.

"I wish to visit Kagome in the village. If I may have my lord's permission, I would like to leave today."

Sesshōmaru's mother's excitement fell, and even Sesshōmaru felt something inside him crack. The first words she said to him out of her own desire was that she wanted to leave immediately, and not with him. She just wanted his permission.

Sesshōmaru was a good husband though, and even as much as it pained him to agree, he did let Rin go and told her that she may leave immediately.

And as he watched her get up and leave the room, he wondered if it was the last time he was going to see her.

. . . . .

"I see," Kagome said before taking a sip of tea. Rin sat across from the older woman, playing with the stitching of her travelling yukata, her tea sat to the side and completely ignored.

It had been a surprise for Kagome when Rin walked into the village, unaccompanied by Sesshōmaru and looking sad. The shrine maiden had instantly rushed to Rin's side, and asked her what was wrong. In a moment that Kagome could only call heart-breaking, Rin broke down right in Kagome's arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Until Rin had told her the reason for her fear and angst, Kagome had wondered if Sesshōmaru had died or something.

"I just don't know what to do," replied Rin in one of the most broken tones Kagome had ever heard. "I know he loves me but I just… I'm so scared. What if he doesn't really love me? What if he lied? What if he really doesn't want it?" Kagome watched Rin in horror as the girls lip began to quiver and the tears started rolling again. "I've b-been avoid-ding him b-becau-cause of th-this and I thin-nk he ha-hates me now."

"Sesshōmaru would never hate you. He married you for a reason; because he loves you and always will. I know it's scary though, I felt it too. I think every girl does when this first happens. It's a terrifying new territory that once crossed into, can't be taken back. But it turns out fine. You'll work it through, and in the end, you'll both be happy. You just need to have a little faith."

"I know," Rin said dejectedly, wiping her eyes with her sleeves. "I know, I know. But you don't get it. Inuyasha loved you, waited three years for you when it wasn't even certain you were coming back. But me? I've always been there, always done everything he said and never said no to him. If he doesn't want this than he doesn't have to have it and no one will care besides me."

Kagome knew this wasn't getting her anywhere but this was the only method she had for dealing with this situation.

"But he married you Rin. This is a part of that, something that happens. It's nature. He knew this would happen, he was probably expecting it. You're scared, and it is scary. But it's scarier when you don't have him at your side. Get over your fear, tell him, and then this will seem so crazy and you'll be glad it's in the past. And anyhow, if he doesn't take you, then we will and we'll hate him with you because we do care if he walks all over you for his actions."

Rin chuckled, a smile cracking across her face for the first time since she arrived. Kagome smiled at the sight.

"You know, your second anniversary is coming up. Perhaps you should do something for him to show him you still love him, something made of cotton?" Kagome said slyly, winking at Rin before taking another sip of her tea.

A smile spread so brightly across Rin's face that Kagome felt as if she was staring at the sun. Indeed, Rin was eager to show her love for her husband in any way that her friend from the future suggested she use.

. . . . .

Kagome jumped again, hand outstretched but found that as all her previous attempts, she could not reach what she was jumping for. It was an apple of course; Sango's daughters wanted this apple and had run to Kagome to get it. Now the girls were scrounging nearby for the herbs Kagome had been looking for, and she was stuck looking like an idiot for something that was out of reach.

Rin was back at the hut sewing a pillow. Kagome had laid out detailed instructions on how to sew the fabric just right, and how to stuff the cotton, leaving Rin to do the rest.

The girl had decided that she wanted to make a pillow, and that she wanted to stuff it with cotton. Kagome thought that was a great idea, and even suggested ways to personalize. Rin was now going to make a pillow, and embroider Sesshōmaru's true form on it. It was so lovingly sweet that it was almost sickening. But Kagome was a hopeless romantic so it wasn't sickening to her.

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the apple was no longer hanging on the tree and Sesshōmaru held it in his hand, staring at her expectantly. In return to Kagome put her hands on her hips and tried to look as annoyed as possible.

"What?"

"What is wrong with Rin?" he asked in return.

"Nothing," Kagome said defensively. Sesshōmaru glared at her and she caved. "Okay, she's scared that's all. Look, I managed to give her a little more confidence and she'll tell you next time you two speak. Just, do something to show her that you love her in the meantime. Something involving cotton."

Sesshōmaru thought that the cotton order was a little odd, but was too glad with knowing a little bit more of his wife's psyche to care.

. . . . .

Sesshōmaru returned to the castle, already knowing what his gift would be. It would be grandiose, and something that could give comfort to Rin. Cotton of some sort, or cotton-like, but breath-taking.

A cotton tree.

The moment he touched down inside the gates of his fortress, he headed straight for Rin's garden. The servants tending the garden instantly looked up as their lord entered, surprised at his presence. The only time he normally entered was when he was with his wife, someone who'd been ignoring him for two and a half months.

"You," he barked at the head servant. He looked surprised but nodded for Sesshōmaru to give his orders. "Have a cotton tree planted here in a week; fully grown."

The servant nodded again. Satisfied that his order would be fulfilled, Sesshōmaru returned to his study, eager for the week to pass and Rin to return.

. . . . .

The moments the gates came into sight for Rin, they opened and she found Sesshōmaru waiting, his hands stuffed into his sleeves. Rin gulped, her gut feeling like it had dropped to the ground. For a moment, she wondered if she was going to throw up.

But she continued walking. She had to do this; she needed to tell him. She wanted her husband back, and she wanted to stop being scared.

She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off.

"There is something I want to show you," he said. He turned on his heel and headed towards the gardens. Cocking her head in confusion, she followed him to the gardens. She was scared, she had no idea what he wanted to show her. Her mind was jumping to conclusions, bad ones, ones where they were no longer married and he no longer wanted her. It was just as she had thought.

But then showed her what it really was; the cotton tree.

She stared at the tree in awe for a few moments before breaking into tears of happiness. She hugged him as she cried and he hugged her back.

"I talked with Kagome, and she told me that you were scared of something. She didn't tell me what, but she told me to be there for you and to be supportive. Understand that I don't care what's going on; I married you because I love you."

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she did her best to gather her confidence.

"Sesshōmaru, I'm pregnant."

There was silence for a moment, before he pulled her into a hug. She was surprised, a stood stiff in his hug as he stroked her hair.

"See, nothing to be afraid of," he reassured.

And for the first time in a while, they were happy.


End file.
